Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Hydraulic and Electric Brake Systems, Air Brake Systems

This document responds to a petition for reconsideration of our 2003 final rule establishing a braking-in-a-curve performance requirement for single unit trucks and buses. The braking-in-a-curve requirement has applied to air-braked truck tractors since 1997 and we determined that the requirement should also apply to single-unit trucks and buses. The requirement ensures that a vehicle's antilock brake system (ABS) maintains adequate stability and control during a hard stop on a curved, slippery road surface. A petition for reconsideration was received from the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA), which seeks to exclude vehicles built in two or more stages and altered vehicles from the braking-in-a-curve requirement if such vehicles are manufactured or altered by a final stage manufacturer or alterer that builds no more than 250 affected vehicles per year. The agency is denying the petitioner's request for the reasons discussed in this document.

Agency Contact: For non-legal issues, you may contact Jeff Woods, Office of Crash Avoidance Safety Standards at (202) 366- 2720. For legal issues, you may contact Rebecca Schade, Office of Chief Counsel, at (202) 366-2992. You may send mail to these officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh St., SW., Washington, DC 20590.